Category Archives: UNITED STATES

All of the top Visa and MasterCard issuers posted significant gains in purchase dollar volume in the second quarter, with Chase and Capital One leading the pack with double digit gains. However, as reported last week bank credit card outstandings were weak in Q2 and losing momentum as there is a discernible change in recent cardholder behavior.

ACI Worldwide will acquire ReD for an all-cash purchase price of $205 million and expects the transaction to close in the middle of the third quarter, 2014. ReD is a leading ecommerce and fraud prevention company serving the payments industry. The company’s suite of solutions – ReD Shield®, ReD Fraud Xchange, ReD PRISM®, ReD Alerts, ReDi, ReD1 Gateway and LiveProcessor – helps customers drive up revenues while reducing fraud losses and increasing the efficiency of their fraud management teams. ReD serves retailers, issuers, acquirers, processors and switch networks globally. ReD has a compelling SaaS and transaction-based financial model, with over 80 percent recurring revenue.

Standard Chartered announced that it has expanded its African coverage of Straight2Bank Wallet, the Bank’s mobile wallet service platform, by launching mobile payment services in Nigeria and adding mobile collections capabilities in Kenya. The Bank launched mobile payment services in Kenya in September 2013.In Nigeria, the Bank has partnered with eTranzact International Plc. to provide mobile payment services through its Straight2Bank Mobile Wallet. This is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Financial Inclusion strategy to the unbanked and semi-banked population.The new mobile payment service enables clients such as development organisations, international organisations, non-bank financial institutions, agricultural companies and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies to make payments to both banked and unbanked individuals such as aid workers, trainers, policy holders, farmers and other beneficiaries.

All of the top Visa and MasterCard issuers posted significant gains in purchase dollar volume in the second quarter, with Chase and Capital One leading the pack with double digit gains. However, as reported last week bank credit card outstandings were weak in Q2 and losing momentum as there is a discernible change in recent cardholder behavior.

ShopKeep announced Custom Email Receipts , a significant enhancement to its point-of-sale solution that hits the market just one week after a range of other upgrades targeted at bars and restaurants. Customized Email Receipts’ key capabilities include better branding, social media, allows users to collect feedback and use big data to boost profitability, special offers and an entirely ‘owned’ database: Enjoy complete ownership and access to your mailing list at all times.Unlike other point-of-sale providers, all customer information, including email addresses, collected through the ShopKeep POS belongs to the business owner. Other vendors claim that data as their own and sell it.

Among the Big 4 Visa and MasterCard issuers for the second quarter, Chase posted the strongest gain of 1.4% Y/Y and Capital One came in second place with a 1.0% Y/Y gain. Bank of America and Citibank posted Y/Y declines of 1.7% and 2.9%, respectively. The reason for the sluggish growth is simply more Americans see bank credit cards as bank payments cards. This trend is also confirmed by a recent ABA study which found the share of cardholders who are transactor increased from 28.6% to 29.0% this year, the highest share on record.

World First has today announced the launch of a ground-breaking new mobile app which will allow clients to make high-speed currency transfers directly from their portable device. The World First Money Transfer App is available to download on iTunes and other app stores for free. It enables clients to manage their international payments on-the-go, so they could be making a secure transfer whilst on the Eurostar from London to Europe, and the money will be in their local account before they arrive.

Capital One reported a 5% year-on-year decline in second quarter after-tax U.S. bank credit card profits to $607 million. The decline was primarily driven by a 14% year-on-year decline in net interest income. However, purchase dollar volume soared while delinquencies and charge-offs hit record lows in the second quarter. Capital One’s net revenue margin declined 164 bps and the average yield dropped 196 bps year-on-year.

Christopher Augustin, a financial services technology innovator whose experience spans nearly three decades at some of the world’s top firms, has joined First Data, the global leader in payment technology and services solutions, as chief information officer (CIO). In his new role, Augustin will lead the company’s software development work, engineering processes and software and application development strategy across the company.

Visa announced the launch of Visa Checkout, a quick and easy payment service that enables consumers throughout the United States, Canada and Australia to pay for goods online, on any device. For consumers and online retailers, Visa Checkout offers an easy and secure way to pay online. Enrolling in Visa Checkout is intuitive and simple, and shoppers can use any Visa debit or credit card or even other branded cards to make purchases from a PC, mobile device or within a mobile app. Once enrolled, shoppers simply provide their username and password to complete the payment process — without ever having to leave the merchant’s website. Visa Checkout replaces the V.me by Visa service, first introduced in 2012. Leading payments card issuers, community banks, and credit unions are all participating in Visa Checkout.